My Initial Steps

While my preliminary agenda was clear, I had to decide how to deliver on this agenda. I had led a number of change processes in the Police Force prior to my Prison Service posting. My experience had taught me that if I drove my agenda as my own personal agenda, others would seek to undermine it. While I was in CID I had the opportunity of attending a 5-day Learning Organization Course conducted by Daniel Kim and Dianne Corry of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They were the disciples of Peter Senge, the author of the book “The Fifth Discipline”. The practical guide I learned from them on how to tap the collective wisdom of the organisation would become my method of choice to effect and manage the change. Fresh from leading the change effort in CID, I knew that getting others to buy in on my agenda would also not be sufficient. The best way was to help the leadership team think through our situation together and hope that they would come to the same action agenda as I did. The members of the team would then drive the agenda collectively to achieve wider buy-in. So upon taking over, my first order of business was to assemble that leadership team and create platforms for the team to think through our situation together. I also knew then that taking this approach, I would have to be prepared to let others help shape the agenda.